My son is a little over 2 yrs old and recently has started attending playgroup class.

They teach nice small rhymes and he was singing one tune on one evening repeatedly which I happened to like. I asked him what he was singing and he tried his best to pull out the right words for me again. I couldn’t grab them all but since I was interested in the tune I began my search for the exact words to put against that tune. And finally, I managed to search it right.

As soon as I read these words I felt so humbled and thought to put down my feelings on paper. Well, on virtual paper or an e-paper to be specific. I felt so respectful to the person who would have written it in the past. I am still not sure about the lyricist neither the origin of this rhyme.

Nonetheless, the words are priceless, and here’re they for you.

Many of you might be already aware of it, still, I feel we all can see them in a different light. Without further ado, here’s the rhyme.

“Row Row Row your boat, gently down the stream.

Merrily merrily merrily merrily, Life is but a dream.”

Yes. Just two simple sentences. Only 10 unique simple words in fact (if you also remove 2 articles). But as Swamiji always says True knowledge is always simple. Rather it only lies in simplicity. Steve Jobs another legend in his field also used to say similar words which kind of became a guideline for Apple to follow along for its all product lines.

“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.”

I too felt the same when I heard this rhyme. A storm of thoughts started brewing in my head. Maybe seasonal allergy. (Sneezing in the background. Pun intended).

Shouldn’t we all be living our life just like this? Shouldn’t we be rowing our boat of life very gently down the stream? With surrender and with gratitude in our heart. With head held high in failure but lowered in success. Staying course. One step at a time. Accepting everything as divine grace because that’s all there is anyway as Swamiji says. No questions. No complaints. No undue analysis of unwanted events. Accepting and loving ourselves and others with all good and bad there is inside. For what’s good and what’s bad. Who are we to decide.

Merrily, this life is nothing but a dream. One of the meanings of the word ‘merrily’ means ‘without considering the consequences’. Aha! What a beautiful word with equally deep meaning. Why worry about the happenings around. Who really knows if what’s happening around is real or just a dream. It might be possible that we are asleep somewhere and this madness going on, is just play of our mind. And that’s what happens in a dream too. Isn’t it?

When we really dream at night while asleep everything feels so real. So true. That alarm on the smartphone goes off and Puff. The dream is gone and we are back to reality? Or back to another dream? Who knows. What’s real? Is this what Maya is? I don’t know.

Let’s just pray to Mother Divine to take our boat to another shore steadily and safely. Lets really live this life, love without measure, Laugh out in all situations, and give/share this bliss to everyone else around.

Since then almost every night me and my son sing this rhyme and laugh out loud. In his laughs, I wish I could be like him. Just enjoying the moment with surrender. I feel, despite the fact that he doesn’t know the meaning of these words; is realized. I, on the other hand, am still finding ways to achieve it.

Jai Shree Hari.

Peace.

P:S. I had written this almost a couple of years back. I still feel the freshness of rhyme as is.